My name is Janice Johnson, and I am a 6th grader at Seneca Grade School. It's in the middle of Illinois and far away from Florida. I love your book FLUSH and wonder where you get your ideas for writing books? Have you always been worried about the environment? I hate it when people litter! When the snow melts here in Illinois, you can see all the garbage people threw out their car windows. It's gross!
I was wondering if you had any suggestions for kids like me in the Midwest on how to help the environment? I live kinda close to the Illinois River, and it always looks brown and gross when I cross the bridge. My friends who go fishing there say they catch more garbage than fish! Yuck!
Please send your ideas to the above address. I hope to hear from you soon!
Keep writing books for kids!
Sincerely, Janice Johnson
FLUSH RAP - KATY (aka CHMIZTRY)
Character Can - Katy
Comic Strip- Nicole
Found Poem- Nicole
Chapters 1-4
Short summary from Randall: The story opens with Noah visiting his father in jail. His father, Paine, sunk Dusty Muleman, a local businessman's, casino boat named the Coral Queen. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he did, so the police had no problem getting a confession from him. Paine believes that Dusty is dumping sewage into the bay, which becomes really gross when the waste floats onto shores further up the coast.
Chapters 6-9
Short summary from Randall: in this set of chapters, a lot of things happen to get the story moving. First, Noah tries to visit his dad in jail to warn him about his mom's impending thoughts about divorce. He doesn't get to talk to him because he's already got a visit from channel 10 news. Then he rides to Lice Peeking's place to work out a trade with him. Noah and his dad will give Lice the family's boat if he makes a written statement about Muleman dumping stuff into the bay. Lice agrees to it. Soon after, Lice and Noah run into Jasper Jr. and Bull, who end up calling Noah a bad name. Lice sticks up for him though and makes Jasper Jr. apologize, to which Jasper Jr. refuses. That evening, Noah and Abbey sneak out to go to the marina to watch Dusty Muleman's boat. They see him actually connect the sewage line to a tank on shore, so they're not sure if their dad is correct now. They have a run-in with Muleman's goon, who nearly catches them until Abbey bites him. The next day, they spend breakfast reading the article that Miles Umlatt wrote for the paper. It's pretty accurate to what was said and happened, but Abbey ends up getting upset about it because her father is being deluded. After breakfast, Noah goes back to the jail to talk to his dad about their sneak out, about lice peeking agreeing to the statement, and about his need to come home. When Noah gets back, he waits for Lice Peeking to come over, but he never comes. Noah rides his bike to Lice's place where he meets Shelley, who tells him that Lice is gone after Muleman's goon came by to talk to him the night before. Noah ends up telling Shelley about their plan before he leaves, and she tells him that she could probably help him out. When Noah gets back, he finds his mom and the lawyer, Mr. Shine, talking about how they're going to try and get Paine to be diagnosed as insane to get him out of jail. He tells abbey about shelley and about how Paine's going to be on Channel 10 that evening with a story, so Abbey and Noah make up a plan to make sure that their mom does not see the news that evening, but she ends up getting a copy from someone after the phone starts ringing off the hook when the newscast is over. After everyone's asleep, Noah sneaks out again to go to the marina. He finds out that the sewage tank is a phony. The next day, while his mother is gone to get groceries in the next town, he ends up talking to Mr. Shine and asks him if his parents are getting a divorce, to which Mr. Shine becomes uncomfortable and tells him of course not. Soon after Mr. Shine leaves, Shelley drops by in Lice's jeep, crying. She's afraid that someone may have killed Lice. She has already decided to get her job back on the Coral Queen so that she can help Noah and Abbey. That night, Noah has a strange dream, from which he awakes to his dad, who has escaped from jail.
Chapters 10-14
Short summary from Randall: Paine talks about how he escaped from jail, and Noah's mother explains that they were going to release him anyway because Muleman wanted to drop the charges as long as Paine got some counseling. Paine refused. Soon a cop came by the house to drop off Paine's stuff from the Jail. Paine had ran away to the beach where Noah found him and talked to him about coming home and how his mom was really thinking about filing for a divorce. His dad said he would be home soon. On Noah's ride home, Jasper Jr. and Bull stopped him and beat him up. The next week was smooth sailing. The judge put Paine on house arrest, so the family spent a lot more time together. One day shelley dropped by to talk about how things were going on the Coral Queen. That night, Abbey pretended to have the flu and then snuck out to try and film the crew dumping sewage in the bay. When they found her gone, the rest of the family freaked out and went to the marina to see if they could find her. The meet up with Muleman and his goon at the dock house. They ask him if he's seen her, but he hasn't, so they ask if they can search the boat for her. He says they can, but they don't end up finding her. After leaving the marina, they find her walking home along the highway. The next day, the cops nearly find out that paine had take off his house arrest bracelet when a deputy stops by, but then they find out anyway because he ends up going back to jail. He has a change of heart while there, telling Noah that it's not worth endangering your family over something like this, so he tells Noah to quit worrying about it. That afternoon, Noah and Abbey unexpectedly meet Shelley at Thunder Beach, which is closed because of the sewage floating in the water. While there, Noah goes out into the water to get a beer can that a boater threw in the water, He also stops a loggerhead turtle from coming onshore in the midst of all of the sewage to save its life. The afternoon ends with Noah telling Abbey that they're going to figure out a way to nail the Coral Queen.
Chapters 15-19
Short Summary from Randall: Paine starts working for a rescue company that pulls boats back into the bay who have run out of gas or gotten stuck. One day, Abbey and Noah pretend that they they're going to the beach when they really head to Shelley's trailer to tell her their new plan to nail Dusty Muleman. Shelley listens to their plan and agrees to help them. On their way back home, Noah and Abbey get stopped and carried into the woods by Jasper Jr. and Bull. After Noah gets punched in the stomach several times and nearly suffocated, Abbey bites hard on Bull's ear, and a mysterious stranger finds them and stops the bullies. Then he tells Noah and Abbey to leave while he talks to the boys. That afternoon, Noah, Abbey, dad, and mom go out fishing together. The next day, Noah and Abbey use all of the money that they have to buy some food coloring gel from the local shop. Then on their way home, Bull stops them to apologize for all of the bullying and to make sure that Noah would tell the scary stranger about it. Soon after, Noah and Abbey go over to Shelly's place to talk about their plan's details. They decide that Noah will have to help Shelley flush all of the bottles of gel in order to get enough in the holding tank so that they could trace it back to Dusty Muleman. Later, Mr. Shine, mom, and dad return from the court hearing. Dusty muleman agreed to drop the charges as long as Paine paid back the insurance company for the damage and agreed to not say anything to any public media outlets. The next evening, Noah's dad and mom go out for the evening, and Noah and Abbey sneak out to get over to the Coral Queen. To get on the boat, Noah and Abbey use a friend's small boat to get close to the dock near the Coral Queen without disturbing anyone. Then Noah sneaks into a crate that Shelley had emptied of booze the night before. The boat's crew haul his and other crates onto the boat, and Noah waits for Shelley to come. When she does, he sneaks out to the nearest bathroom to start pouring his bottles of gel. Shelley posted a out of order sign on the bathroom's door to give him enough time. When he finishes, he keeps trying to find the perfect time to escape, but no such time comes until an older woman comes banging on the door. She freaks when she finds him, so he makes a run for it to the top level of the ship with bouncers right behind him. He dives into the bay before they catch him and waits for Abbey to come by with the boat. While trying to swim to safety, Noah runs into a sleeping manatee. He finds his sister at the boat, but the engine has quit working with them floating close to the dock where Dusty and Luno are waiting. After Luno pulls out a gun, the stranger shows up again to beat up Luno and send Dusty running. Noah gets the engine started and heads back to his friends place, but the engine runs out of gas during the journey, leaving them stranded on the open sea. After spending all night in the boat, their father and the mysterious stranger find them out on the water. They find out the mysterious stranger is their Grandpa Bobby, who had supposedly been dead in South America.
Chapters 15-21
So I created a character map of all of the major characters in the story that we see pretty often. Also, I included a description of their roles in the story as well as some of their general characteristics. The lines between the characters means that they interact throughout the story on several different occasions. - Randall Koehler
Flussshhhhhhh.... right into the bay? (Book Review)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to swim through the waters of the Florida Keys late at night and run into a manatee? In the crazy world of Noah Underwood, the main character in Carl Hiaasen’s book Flush, it is just another part of an eventful day stopping environmental destruction. After spending most of his time writing for adults, Hiaasen is getting into the children’s literature section of the bookstore with this middle-school novel about his part of the US, the Florida Keys.
Noah Underwood’s father is sitting in jail for sinking Dusty Muleman’s casino boat, the Coral Queen. He thinks that Muleman is pouring his sewage into the bay, but how can he prove it, and should he get his family involved? Noah is not sure what to do as he navigates keeping his family together while still standing with his father, a local drunk named Lice (who would have ever thought that was a good name for a child?), and his girlfriend against environmental injustice.
After reading Hiaasen’s words about many different environmental issues through his column in the Miami Herald, it comes as little surprise that the main theme of this book is stopping environmental destruction, but Hiaasen does a wonderful job of developing the characters and events of the story without focusing the reader too much on the environmental theme. Young readers can identify with a family that seems a little over-the-top and parents who disagree about things and try to hide it from their children. Young readers will enjoy the witty, honest, truthful, and straightforward nature of the main character, who has few problems asking questions of the adults around him and standing up for his family when people make fun of them.
Young readers will also be able to laugh along with the characters as they encounter different situations from swimming into a manatee to wading into poopy water. Readers will enjoy those moments of joy and sadness as the book moves through the struggle of keeping a family together and balancing personal conviction with the desires of your loved ones who need you as well. In the midst of all of the events, Hiaasen’s supreme use of comparisons in language and descriptions set this book apart from others for young readers. With a sister who makes so much noise that it sounds like a duck swallowing a harmonica and a mother who cuts onions to hide the tears coming to her eyes, readers will be taken by the story and unable to put it down. They will be able to use this book as an example for their own writing and as a springboard into investigation about many different environmental concerns, for Noah’s father stops at nothing to keep animals and plants safe.
After finishing the 260 page novel, I found all of my loose ends tied together and a book that I could read several times over. Flush is a draw-you-in and take-you-for-a-wild-ride book. Hiaasen has shown the versatility and command of his own writing as he continues to write for a younger audience, which he started with his book Hoot. - Randall Koehler
Dear Mr. Hiaasen,
My name is Janice Johnson, and I am a 6th grader at Seneca Grade School. It's in the middle of Illinois and far away from Florida. I love your book FLUSH and wonder where you get your ideas for writing books? Have you always been worried about the environment? I hate it when people litter! When the snow melts here in Illinois, you can see all the garbage people threw out their car windows. It's gross!I was wondering if you had any suggestions for kids like me in the Midwest on how to help the environment? I live kinda close to the Illinois River, and it always looks brown and gross when I cross the bridge. My friends who go fishing there say they catch more garbage than fish! Yuck!
Please send your ideas to the above address. I hope to hear from you soon!
Keep writing books for kids!
Sincerely, Janice Johnson
FLUSH RAP - KATY (aka CHMIZTRY)
Character Can - Katy
Comic Strip- Nicole
Found Poem- Nicole
Chapters 1-4
Short summary from Randall: The story opens with Noah visiting his father in jail. His father, Paine, sunk Dusty Muleman, a local businessman's, casino boat named the Coral Queen. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he did, so the police had no problem getting a confession from him. Paine believes that Dusty is dumping sewage into the bay, which becomes really gross when the waste floats onto shores further up the coast.Chapters 6-9
Short summary from Randall: in this set of chapters, a lot of things happen to get the story moving. First, Noah tries to visit his dad in jail to warn him about his mom's impending thoughts about divorce. He doesn't get to talk to him because he's already got a visit from channel 10 news. Then he rides to Lice Peeking's place to work out a trade with him. Noah and his dad will give Lice the family's boat if he makes a written statement about Muleman dumping stuff into the bay. Lice agrees to it. Soon after, Lice and Noah run into Jasper Jr. and Bull, who end up calling Noah a bad name. Lice sticks up for him though and makes Jasper Jr. apologize, to which Jasper Jr. refuses. That evening, Noah and Abbey sneak out to go to the marina to watch Dusty Muleman's boat. They see him actually connect the sewage line to a tank on shore, so they're not sure if their dad is correct now. They have a run-in with Muleman's goon, who nearly catches them until Abbey bites him. The next day, they spend breakfast reading the article that Miles Umlatt wrote for the paper. It's pretty accurate to what was said and happened, but Abbey ends up getting upset about it because her father is being deluded. After breakfast, Noah goes back to the jail to talk to his dad about their sneak out, about lice peeking agreeing to the statement, and about his need to come home. When Noah gets back, he waits for Lice Peeking to come over, but he never comes. Noah rides his bike to Lice's place where he meets Shelley, who tells him that Lice is gone after Muleman's goon came by to talk to him the night before. Noah ends up telling Shelley about their plan before he leaves, and she tells him that she could probably help him out. When Noah gets back, he finds his mom and the lawyer, Mr. Shine, talking about how they're going to try and get Paine to be diagnosed as insane to get him out of jail. He tells abbey about shelley and about how Paine's going to be on Channel 10 that evening with a story, so Abbey and Noah make up a plan to make sure that their mom does not see the news that evening, but she ends up getting a copy from someone after the phone starts ringing off the hook when the newscast is over. After everyone's asleep, Noah sneaks out again to go to the marina. He finds out that the sewage tank is a phony. The next day, while his mother is gone to get groceries in the next town, he ends up talking to Mr. Shine and asks him if his parents are getting a divorce, to which Mr. Shine becomes uncomfortable and tells him of course not. Soon after Mr. Shine leaves, Shelley drops by in Lice's jeep, crying. She's afraid that someone may have killed Lice. She has already decided to get her job back on the Coral Queen so that she can help Noah and Abbey. That night, Noah has a strange dream, from which he awakes to his dad, who has escaped from jail.Chapters 10-14
Short summary from Randall: Paine talks about how he escaped from jail, and Noah's mother explains that they were going to release him anyway because Muleman wanted to drop the charges as long as Paine got some counseling. Paine refused. Soon a cop came by the house to drop off Paine's stuff from the Jail. Paine had ran away to the beach where Noah found him and talked to him about coming home and how his mom was really thinking about filing for a divorce. His dad said he would be home soon. On Noah's ride home, Jasper Jr. and Bull stopped him and beat him up. The next week was smooth sailing. The judge put Paine on house arrest, so the family spent a lot more time together. One day shelley dropped by to talk about how things were going on the Coral Queen. That night, Abbey pretended to have the flu and then snuck out to try and film the crew dumping sewage in the bay. When they found her gone, the rest of the family freaked out and went to the marina to see if they could find her. The meet up with Muleman and his goon at the dock house. They ask him if he's seen her, but he hasn't, so they ask if they can search the boat for her. He says they can, but they don't end up finding her. After leaving the marina, they find her walking home along the highway. The next day, the cops nearly find out that paine had take off his house arrest bracelet when a deputy stops by, but then they find out anyway because he ends up going back to jail. He has a change of heart while there, telling Noah that it's not worth endangering your family over something like this, so he tells Noah to quit worrying about it. That afternoon, Noah and Abbey unexpectedly meet Shelley at Thunder Beach, which is closed because of the sewage floating in the water. While there, Noah goes out into the water to get a beer can that a boater threw in the water, He also stops a loggerhead turtle from coming onshore in the midst of all of the sewage to save its life. The afternoon ends with Noah telling Abbey that they're going to figure out a way to nail the Coral Queen.Chapters 15-19
Short Summary from Randall: Paine starts working for a rescue company that pulls boats back into the bay who have run out of gas or gotten stuck. One day, Abbey and Noah pretend that they they're going to the beach when they really head to Shelley's trailer to tell her their new plan to nail Dusty Muleman. Shelley listens to their plan and agrees to help them. On their way back home, Noah and Abbey get stopped and carried into the woods by Jasper Jr. and Bull. After Noah gets punched in the stomach several times and nearly suffocated, Abbey bites hard on Bull's ear, and a mysterious stranger finds them and stops the bullies. Then he tells Noah and Abbey to leave while he talks to the boys. That afternoon, Noah, Abbey, dad, and mom go out fishing together. The next day, Noah and Abbey use all of the money that they have to buy some food coloring gel from the local shop. Then on their way home, Bull stops them to apologize for all of the bullying and to make sure that Noah would tell the scary stranger about it. Soon after, Noah and Abbey go over to Shelly's place to talk about their plan's details. They decide that Noah will have to help Shelley flush all of the bottles of gel in order to get enough in the holding tank so that they could trace it back to Dusty Muleman. Later, Mr. Shine, mom, and dad return from the court hearing. Dusty muleman agreed to drop the charges as long as Paine paid back the insurance company for the damage and agreed to not say anything to any public media outlets. The next evening, Noah's dad and mom go out for the evening, and Noah and Abbey sneak out to get over to the Coral Queen. To get on the boat, Noah and Abbey use a friend's small boat to get close to the dock near the Coral Queen without disturbing anyone. Then Noah sneaks into a crate that Shelley had emptied of booze the night before. The boat's crew haul his and other crates onto the boat, and Noah waits for Shelley to come. When she does, he sneaks out to the nearest bathroom to start pouring his bottles of gel. Shelley posted a out of order sign on the bathroom's door to give him enough time. When he finishes, he keeps trying to find the perfect time to escape, but no such time comes until an older woman comes banging on the door. She freaks when she finds him, so he makes a run for it to the top level of the ship with bouncers right behind him. He dives into the bay before they catch him and waits for Abbey to come by with the boat. While trying to swim to safety, Noah runs into a sleeping manatee. He finds his sister at the boat, but the engine has quit working with them floating close to the dock where Dusty and Luno are waiting. After Luno pulls out a gun, the stranger shows up again to beat up Luno and send Dusty running. Noah gets the engine started and heads back to his friends place, but the engine runs out of gas during the journey, leaving them stranded on the open sea. After spending all night in the boat, their father and the mysterious stranger find them out on the water. They find out the mysterious stranger is their Grandpa Bobby, who had supposedly been dead in South America.Chapters 15-21
So I created a character map of all of the major characters in the story that we see pretty often. Also, I included a description of their roles in the story as well as some of their general characteristics. The lines between the characters means that they interact throughout the story on several different occasions. - Randall Koehler
Flussshhhhhhh.... right into the bay? (Book Review)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to swim through the waters of the Florida Keys late at night and run into a manatee? In the crazy world of Noah Underwood, the main character in Carl Hiaasen’s book Flush, it is just another part of an eventful day stopping environmental destruction. After spending most of his time writing for adults, Hiaasen is getting into the children’s literature section of the bookstore with this middle-school novel about his part of the US, the Florida Keys.
Noah Underwood’s father is sitting in jail for sinking Dusty Muleman’s casino boat, the Coral Queen. He thinks that Muleman is pouring his sewage into the bay, but how can he prove it, and should he get his family involved? Noah is not sure what to do as he navigates keeping his family together while still standing with his father, a local drunk named Lice (who would have ever thought that was a good name for a child?), and his girlfriend against environmental injustice.
After reading Hiaasen’s words about many different environmental issues through his column in the Miami Herald, it comes as little surprise that the main theme of this book is stopping environmental destruction, but Hiaasen does a wonderful job of developing the characters and events of the story without focusing the reader too much on the environmental theme. Young readers can identify with a family that seems a little over-the-top and parents who disagree about things and try to hide it from their children. Young readers will enjoy the witty, honest, truthful, and straightforward nature of the main character, who has few problems asking questions of the adults around him and standing up for his family when people make fun of them.
Young readers will also be able to laugh along with the characters as they encounter different situations from swimming into a manatee to wading into poopy water. Readers will enjoy those moments of joy and sadness as the book moves through the struggle of keeping a family together and balancing personal conviction with the desires of your loved ones who need you as well. In the midst of all of the events, Hiaasen’s supreme use of comparisons in language and descriptions set this book apart from others for young readers. With a sister who makes so much noise that it sounds like a duck swallowing a harmonica and a mother who cuts onions to hide the tears coming to her eyes, readers will be taken by the story and unable to put it down. They will be able to use this book as an example for their own writing and as a springboard into investigation about many different environmental concerns, for Noah’s father stops at nothing to keep animals and plants safe.
After finishing the 260 page novel, I found all of my loose ends tied together and a book that I could read several times over. Flush is a draw-you-in and take-you-for-a-wild-ride book. Hiaasen has shown the versatility and command of his own writing as he continues to write for a younger audience, which he started with his book Hoot. - Randall Koehler